Excessive force.

[Zeniro]

Zeniro sat alone. This was nothing unusual and he took great comfort in his own company. He had been quiet for a long time now. In fact he had almost been completely off the radar since Stern had dissapeared. Since that day Zeniro had lost direction and other external forces had forced him to become a shadow of his former self.

These external forces had now dissapeared and Zeniro was trying to forge a new life for himself. Despite his changing attitude his appearance and the aura he projected were still menacing. At this point Zeniro was unable to remedy the situation, he was the product of years of violence and that was constantly projected in his overtly agressive behaviour.

Zeniro sat eating his chicken breast and brown rice, a meal he had prepared at home and brought with him to school. As he did he scanned the occupants of the cafeteria. Out of the corner of his eye he caught site of two young men harassing a female student, to a passing glance this could have been brushed off as playful banter. Zeniro's gaze was not a passing glance, intimidation to him came as naturally as breathing and he could tell straight away from the females body language that she was intimidated. Zeniro stood up...perhaps he could help, that's what people like Kyu did.

Zeniro approached the two young men from behind and cleared his throat. The two students turned around and each took a single step back...unable to retreat further because of the table. They looked at one another and Zeniro could tell what was going through their heads. '2 on 1...what could go wrong.?' Zeniro ignored the smirks on their faces and before they could speak up he spoke in his own low growling tones.

"Leave the girl alone."

The taller of the two students nudged his friend and offered a chuckle. He then looked back to Zeniro trying to match the Maoris unwavering gaze.

"Or els.....Gaaaacckkkkkk."

Zeniro's hand thrust into the students throat and dropped him to his knee's. The young mans hands clasped around his neck, violently choking as he gasped for air. His friend was stunned for a moment with shock. Then he reacted arcing a right hook for Zeniro's nose. Zeniro growled and simply headbutt the incoming fist, two of his assailents knuckles popped as they crashed into Zeniro's solid forehead. With a yelp he clasped at his injured hand. Meanwhile Zeniro had clutched at a metal tray perched on a table to his left and had begun his arc to smash said tray into the skull of the boy with the injured fist. Now concust the boy lay motionless on the floor. This was the point where normal people stopped, where Heroes got the girl and gained the respect of the student body for being so helpful. Zeniro knew this, but his darker side had taken over. With tray in hand he now crushed it into the face of the choking student, silencing them in an instant as their head snapped back and blood arced into the air.

As the student fell to the ground the girl they had been harrasing let out a scream of terror when a rogue tooth rattled onto her plate. With a gaze filled with fear she looked toward Zeniro's hulking form and fell backwards out of her chair as she tried to get away from him. This action seemed to halt Zeniro in an instant and he dropped the tray to the floor, his claw like hand reaching toward the girl in an appealing manner. The gasps that came from the crowd surrounding Zeniro suggested they thought he was now reaching for her to continue his rampage.

He turned his attention from the girl and looked toward the two fallen wannabe thugs. He felt his rage peak in an instant, with it he kicked one of the fallen students in the ribs with more than enough force to break them. The student let out a pained groan and once more began to gasp for air.

"YOU SEE WHAT YOU'VE MADE ME DO?"

Zeniro bellowed at the top of his lungs at the fallen students, it took every ounce of self control not to simply stamp on their heads to finnish them off for good. Claw like nails dug into his palms drawing blood. Those in the crowd who saw him clenching his fists backed away. It was obvious they hadn't seen anything like this in a long time or at all.

"I TRY TO FUCKING HELP AND YOU TURN ME INTO AN ANIMAL!!"

He turned his anger toward the masses now, his dark gaze piercing like a spear on any face that it fell on. This caused many to flinch and a few people had begun to make their way out of the cafeteria through fear of the seemingly derranged student. Zeniro pointed a talon like nail towards the masses.

"YOU THINK I WANT TO BE LIKE THIS? I DON'T! I WANT LIVE A NORMAL LIFE AND YOU FUCKING IDIOTS JUST CAN'T STOP FOR ONE FUCKING SECOND!"

Zeniro paused, his anger was so potent at the moment that his body physically shook with rage. He lowered his hand, his breathing was starting to calm down. He looked toward the floor, then to the two fallen students.

"Fuck this shit. I hope you all suffer the violence you seem to crave so much. Hopefully then you'll all learn the hard way...maybe then you'll all shut the fuck up and leave each other in peace."

[Kyukaku]

Kyukaku hadn't been at the assembly, or at the first week of school in general. It wasn't the best start to a new school he'd ever had, but it wasn't the worst either. The bombings had left Kyukaku with his own personal investigation of sorts. Kyukaku had tried avoiding and ignoring Trent Davis both since he followed him here to San Fransisco. Kyukaku couldn't focus on anything at this point, not until he dealt with Trent.

Running out of leads, Kyukaku had attended most of today's day of school. Honestly, it was more out of detective-like work than it was for education. His dad told him that a good deal of investigation came from networking. Back in his Detective days his father's best information came from trails leading from one person to the next. Kyukaku had done this once before when trying to find Trent. If only he could find one of the few former Hand of Fate members left around, or this Network he's heard rumors about.

Failing miserably in his search thus far, Kyukaku entered the cafeteria. He figured if there was a chance at all, the cafeteria would be the best guess. It was the largest gather place in the school for the students. Unfortunately, Kyukaku wouldn't be getting much. The crowd was already occupied, parting towards the middle where someone was yelling. Not just someone, but-

Zeniro...

It was hard to explain the relationship between the two of them. They'd once been terrible enemies, though the same could be said of several of Kyukaku's friends. Kyukaku didn't want to label Zeniro of what he had been labelled his whole life, but it proved to be hard. Zeniro DID share a good deal of traits with that of a loyal guard dog. With Stern out of the picture, Zeniro had been let off the leash. Kyukaku couldn't help but at times feel like Zeniro might be trying to mold himself into Kyu's dog now. Whether that was true at some level or not, there was no denying that Kyukaku had been able to calm Zeniro several times in the past. Hopefully today wouldn't prove to be different.

"Zeniro," Kyukaku would say evenly as he place his right hand atop the maori's left shoulder. Approaching from behind Zeniro, while in an agitated state, Kyukaku kept his left hand up, ready to block any instinctive lash backwards.

"Care to take a walk?"

Kyukaku nodded backwards, intenting on removing Zeniro from whatever scene had agitated him to begin with. His eyes drifted down to the two downed students. They were in terrible shape, and Kyukaku would make sure to send someone to get them help. It was funny. Back when Zeniro and Kyukaku had first met, his naivete would have tried to stop Zeniro physically. Kyukaku had grown in mind and body both, developing more wisdom than to add fuel to the fire that was Zeniro's rage.

[Zeniro]

"Zeniro."

A hand was placed upon his left shoulder. Instinctively Zeniro measured the pressure used by the hand, it was firmly placed a sign of confidence from the placer rather than agression. Zeniro knew the hand belonged to Kyu even if Kyu hadn't spoken previously Zeniro just knew Kyu would be the only person in this school who would place a hand on his shoulder in such a manner. It was a very familiar manner, it was the type of force Stern had used. If the force used had been firmer it would have been a sign of agression a statement of physical dominance that would have been met instantly with violence. If it had been softer Zeniro's predatory side would have registered it as weakness and submission and once again would have met the contact with violence to instate his own physical dominance. Kyu's hand registered as neutral, he was treating Zeniro as an equal...not someone to be feared or someone to challenge.

"Hello Kyu."

Zeniro's voice still trembled slightly from the anger that had engulfed him earlier. However with the touch upon his shoulder Kyu would have noticed that Zeniro's posture would relax. Zeniro in many ways was like a gaurd dog without an owner, confused and agitated he struck out instinctively as a form of self preservation. Like a gaurd dog he could not control himself when the agression took over and for the time being he needed someone there to stop him when he was getting out of control. Once upon a time Stern had been that 'owner' the only man who had ever been able to control Zeniro's violent outburts. This was because Stern was the only man Zeniro respected. Over time Kyu had begun to earn Zeniro's respect and slowly but surely he had begun to see Kyu as someone who could help him change his ways. Something the maori desired greatly, judging by the carnage in the cafeteria he knew he was still someway away from changing.

"Care to take a walk?"

Zeniro turned around slowly to face Kyu, his dark eyes meeting Kyu's. Zeniro had noticed that the crowd remained. At first they were stunned into silence because of Zeniro's acts. Now it seemed they were stunned into Silence because Kyu had seemingly been suicidal enough to approach this psychopath. As Kyu had difused the situations there had been one or two comments from the students incredulous that Kyu had been able to resolve the situation in a non violent manner.

"Will you be alright walking? The last time we met your legs looked worse for ware."

Zeniro ignored the crowd now, his demeanour had rapidly changed from hell bent on violence to almost utter tranquility. His breathing was regualted and his body relaxed. The tremble that had been in his voice had dissapeared and now he was quite softly spoken.

"Either way I could do with getting out of here. This place isn't good for me."

[Kyukaku]

"Why, Mr. Tangaroa, I believe I sense a hint of concern in your voice."

Kyukaku relaxed along with Zeniro. While he had expected the maori to calm down rather quickly upon realization of who it was approaching, he didn't expect it to be so soon. Perhaps Zeniro's self-control wasn't as far away as Kyukaku had thought...or Zeniro, for that matter.

"It's much better than it could have been, if it wasn't for you." Kyukaku added to the end, changing his humor to a more serious thankful tone. As Zeniro accepted, Kyukaku gave a short nod.

"Yeah. I'm beginning to think this place isn't good for anyone..."

Kyukaku lifted his hand just slightly off Zeniro's shoulder, patting down on it once in a friendly manner before letting it slide back to his side. Kyu's leg, though out of its cast, was still slightly injured. He once again had the knee sleeve over his left leg, just to give it the support. Kyu walked with the slightest of limps as he left the cafeteria, not necessarily out of pain or injury, but due to the weakened muscles around his knee during their time of disuse under the cast.

"Make sure they get taken care of." Kyukaku gazed around the crowd who was still somewhat awe struck. "Please." Kyukaku added, singling his gaze to a smaller group, who reluctantly nodded.

Kyukaku would lead Zeniro out the doors, moving down the few short hallways. Unless Zeniro chose to speak, which was doubtful, Kyukaku would remain quiet until he opened up the back doors to the school, holding them open for Zeniro to exit before Kyu would follow. Once the door closed behind them, leaving them in the grassy plain behind the brick building, Kyukaku would choose to speak.

"Want to tell me what happened back there?"

[Zeniro]

Concern? Zeniro pondered the thought for a moment as Kyu highlighted the phrase. His tone suggested friendly banter, but it provoked deeper though from the Maori. Why had he asked the question? In the past he would have cared very little for the well being of others. The only reason he could think of was his desire to face Kyu in combat when they were both fresh and in their prime. Even this thought however had changed in nature over time, Zeniro could recall a time when he would have taken pleasure in crushing Kyu. Now however his desire for combat was of a different nature, he wanted to test himself against Kyu he was a keen believer in the statement that to truly know somone you must face them in combat. Zeniro no longer wanted to crush Kyu he simply wanted to fight him, to push Kyu and himself to the extremes of human endurance to see what they were truly made of.

"It's much better than it could have been, if it wasn't for you."

This phrase and the tone in which it was spoken, snapped Zeniro from his thoughts. He chose not to speak and simply nodded. He knew what he was reffering to, his ankle still reminded of that day from time to time. The slight twinge of pain although lessening with each day still remained. It was a pain that reminded Zeniro that he was capable of mercy and acting in a manner that people from his past would simply not beleive if you were to tell them.

Kyu patted his shoulder lightly, and then the hand was removed. For the moment Zenior remained motionless. The crowd still surrounded the two young men, but it was gradually thinning out. Once Kyu began walking Zeniro followed suite. Now the crowd parted and Kyu spoke a firm request to a couple of somewhat reluctant students. Zeniro's dark eyes fell upon this small crowd for a moment and he noticed how their eyes immediately looked away from him. Even with Kyu's presence and Zeniro acting calmly their was still fear among the crowd...perhaps this fear and prejudice would always exist. Perhaps Zeniro was destined to an animal. He turned his gaze from the crowd and noticed the way Kyu carried himself as he walked, the limp although subtle was still there perhaps unoticed by the masses but glaringly obvious to someone like Zeniro who almost instinctively found weakness in others.

Eventually the two reached the exit to the school and Zeniro stepped through the open door onto the gravel and then onto the grass of the school. He heard the door swing shut and was aware that Kyu was walking by his side.

"Want to tell me what happened back there?"

Zeniro remained silent for a moment or two before he paused. He thought back to the moment when he struck the first student and then lost all self control. As he reflected on the moment Zeniro felt his hands twitch instinctively curling into fists. He let out a breath and his hands relaxed once more. Zeniro was a creaute of habbit, he had spent his life surviving on instinct and now he was trying to change his violent nature.

"I lost control. I cannot control myself, I cannot control this creature in me."

Zeniro paused, he had not met Kyu's gaze. He simply stared blankly ahead. His voice was matter of fact, with the subtlest hint of remorse. Zeniro was evidently weary, his shoulders normally broad and squared now sagged slightly as if he bore a great weight. He offered a bitter smile and shook his head.

"All my life I have been surrounded by violence. What have I acheived? Nothing...I am a useless being."

Zeniro's jaw clenched for a moment and again those powerful fists clenched into tight balls. His eyes closes and his voice was laced with anger as he spoke his next words.

"Atleast my father had an excuse for his pointless violence....he was a hopeless drunk, an empty shell of a man. A coward. When I was younger I vowed to be strong...."

Blood drew from Zeniro's palm as his nails dug deep into the flesh, he felt physicaly ill. His mind wrought with thoughts of his father and the carnage that was his childhood.

"I am trying Kyu....In the Cafeteria I was trying to do good, I was trying to help the girl. I couldn't stop myself, I am as weak and cowardly as my father. He is in my blood and I cannot drain him from me."

[Kyukaku]

I wonder if even Stern knew this much about Zeniro...

Kyukaku crossed his arms as he leaned against the glass doors. Kyukaku listened with extreme intent, not changing a single feature on his face. It came accross his mind that this very well could be the first time Zeniro had ever opened up to somebody else, letting them into his past. Kyu was afraid that if he showed any of the surprise he felt, Zeniro might stop sharing prematurely. Though the maori hadn't spoken all that much (though a great deal given the man), it certainly gave Kyu more than enough to connect the dots.

"You're wrong."

Using his abdominbal muscles, Kyukaku pulled himself from the doors, rather than putting more pressure than necessary on his leg that would come from pushing off like usual. Slowly, Kyukaku began to pace off towards Zeniro's left, placing his chin in the crook between his thumb and index finger. Kyukaku wasn't too sure how to immediately follow up. Even given their current relationship, it was still best to tread lightly around Zeniro.

"You had good in your intentions. That's so much more important than you're giving yourself credit for."

Kyukaku finally explained, turning back around to face Zeniro as he finished.

"There are no good intentions in beating your family. You may have your father's blood, but you aren't him. Zeniro, its quite a different thing to lose control than it is to intend pain. If you really don't want to hurt people, then you've already taken the biggest step in the right direction. Self-control isn't an easy thing. I may be labeled as the boy scout by some of you guys, but God knows I've lost my temper on more than once occasion. I've taken things too far before, too.

"It's not easy, but its not impossible. You just have to grab the bull by the horns, and not let go no matter how hard it bucks. Everyone's different. For me, I meditate. I try and spend at least twenty minutes a day sitting secluded, clearing my mind just to keep what's really important to me in perspective. You could also try breathing techniques or..."

Kyukaku paused, an intriguing thought crossing his mind.

"...or maybe an outlet."

[Zeniro]

Zeniro gradually eased the tension in his muscles. The cramp that had begun to build in his forearms slowly subsided and Zeniro fought with himself to maintain control. He blinked a few times, tears had threatened but he had regained his composure in time. Although clearly shaken Zeniro began to inhale and exhale in slow rythmical breaths. Whilst Kyu spoke he chose to remain silent. Indeed Kyu spoke sense, but Zeniro found himself unable to take in the words of consolation. The psychological effect of years of violent abuse at his fathers hands was deeply ingrained in his mind and he knew it would take time for him to come to terms with his inner demons. He did however raise his head so he could meet Kyu's gaze.

"I don't know why you bother Kyu..."

Zeniro paused for a moment, his bloodied palms came to rest at his side. He felt a slight twinge of pain in them but chose to ignore it. A heavy sigh slipped from Zeniro's lips.

"However I thank you, for your persistance. I need somebody as stubborn as myself...you seem to obstinately believe that I am worth helping."

Zeniro paused again. He was finding himself in an increasingly awkward situation. He didn't have friends. His normal contact with humans was either brief and bloody, or involved some short form of verbal communication such as a pleaded request or a command. He was evidently finding conversation with Kyu difficult. Zeniro's almost bio polar mood swing didn't go any way to helping ease into the social interaction.

"I know I'm not my father, but he is within me. He is a permanent part of me....he made quite sure of that. No matter what some part of him will always dictate my actions. You see, all I've known from a young age is violence...Stern knew this and fuelled it, he was not interested in anything else but the animal that I harbour."

Zeniro's eyes looked to his bloodied hands and he flexed them gently, losing himself briefly in thought before wiping the hands together in some vain attempt to rid them of the blood stains.

"I don't want to be that animal, and I am willing to try anything you suggest. I know I cannot do this on my own...and I can think of no one more suited to helping me than you."

[Kyukaku]

"Well, you just answered your own question, Zeniro."

Kyukaku paused as well, providing a melodramatic pause as he collected his thoughts. Finding the best way he could put it for the moment, Kyukaku took a deep breath before speaking up yet again.

"Because you are worth helping. Everybody is--they just need the chance."

Conversation was kept at an awkward short, Kyukaku finding the conversation equally difficult. It was hard for Zeniro to communicate his thoughts and feelings correctly, and for that reason Kyukaku had just as hard of a time intercepting them and replying accordingly. Honestly, Kyukaku didn't know how he was getting through to Zeniro, but it did seem like whatever he was doing was working.

Kyukaku nodded in small increments as Zeniro spoke to him. Besides himself, Kyukaku had never seen someone speak to the maori as much as Stern Mason, and he found himself agreeing completely to the evaluation Zeniro had on their relationship. Before saying anything in reply, Kyukaku sat in the grass where he was, crossing his legs and letting his forearms rest atop his knees after removing his backpack. Kyukaku nodded to Zeniro, gesturing for him to mirror Kyukaku's seated posture in front of him. As Zeniro would sit, if he complied, Kyukaku would speak once more.

"Understand that I'm not interested in that animal, Zeniro. What's more important than that, though, is that you aren't interested in it either." Kyukaku would trail off,as he reached into his backpack, looking for something as he continued.

"Have you ever heard of self-realization?" Kyukaku asked rhetorically, pulling out a water bottle with his left hand as he outstretched his right, gesturing for Zeniro to hold out his hands in the same fashion of palms up, continuing before Zeniro could reply.

"It's what most Zen meditation aims for. You see, if one understands oneself, they understand their place in the world and essentially everything in it. Its process of 'no-mind', where you completely clear your mind, focusing on something simple like the breeze of the wind, or the imprints of your palm." Kyukaku unscrewed the bottle as he talked, turning it upsideown as he began to rinse off Zeniro's palms.

"If you do this, it can wipe your soul clean."